


It's (not) the end of the world as we know it

by DizzyDrea



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Chuck Lives, F/M, Romance, girl!Raleigh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 15:30:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4840733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It begins—as it always does for Raleigh and Chuck—with the fight. But it doesn't end there. And just because Raleigh's a girl... well, things aren't as different as you'd think. </p><p>But this story isn't about that. It's about two damaged and broken people finding a way to live again, now that the world isn't ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's (not) the end of the world as we know it

**Author's Note:**

> I started this story sometime after I'd seen the movie (to be fair, I saw it in 2014, not in theaters when it was released), but it sat unfinished in my WIP folder forever. This year, I've been working my way through that folder, finishing off some of the older fics that've been just sitting there, mocking me. I finished this one simply because I couldn't let those first lines go. And yes, the title is a riff on [that song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY). The style is less linear that you might be used to from me, but I've been experimenting with it a lot more lately, and I think it works here.
> 
> Also, I heard the news this week that Pacific Rim 2 has been put on hold. I really enjoyed the first one and was looking forward to the second (and the third), but if all we get is the original, I'm okay with that. Sad, but ultimately okay. So, here, enjoy this as you deal with the sadness of what might never be.
> 
> Disclaimer: Pacific Rim and all its particulars is the property of Guillermo Del Toro, Legendary Pictures, DDY, Warner Bros and a whole lot of people who aren't me. I do this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~

It begins—as it always does for Raleigh and Chuck—with the fight. But it doesn't end there. And just because Raleigh's a girl... well, things aren't as different as you'd think. 

But this story isn't about that. It's about two damaged and broken people finding a way to live again, now that the world isn't ending. 

~o~

Raleigh Becket's first punch lands with a satisfying crunch. So does the second. And the third.

By then, her opponent is up and swinging, and she nearly grins with glee. Chuck Hansen is no saint; he fights in the flesh like he fights the kaiju: fast, hard and dirty. And he's not afraid to punch a girl.

They trade insults as they circle each other. His muttered _washed-up has-been_ earns him a particularly hard punch, and her _arrogant glory-hound_ sees her tackled to the floor.

They're both bloodied and bruised by the time Herc and Stacker burst out of the Marshal's office to put an end to the fight, but it's enough to remind Raleigh that she's alive, and that she still has fight left in her.

~o~

After the double event, Raleigh's too keyed up on post-drop adrenalin to sleep. She's no stranger to insomnia, though, so she just heads back to her quarters after the celebration. 

The knock on the door is unexpected but she figures it'll be Mako, looking for advice on how to handle the drift hangover. But when she opens the door, it's not Mako. It's actually the last person she expected to see.

Chuck just smirks and pushes his way inside, taking a quick look around before he turns a predatory gaze on her and she only has seconds to wonder what the hell is going on here before he's got her pinned to the wall and is kissing her like she's never been kissed before.

"Please tell me this isn't _thank you for saving my life_ sex," she gasps out as he nibbles his way down her neck.

"More like _thank fuck we're still alive_ sex," he says, his lips never stopping their journey across her skin. "Maybe a little _Gypsy is fucking gorgeous when she's fighting_ sex, too."

And leave it to Chuck to pop a boner over an 80 foot tall robot.

~o~

Clothes are pushed aside, and Chuck presses into Raleigh in one long slide, drawing loud moans from both of them. He doesn't take it easy, snapping his hips fast and frantic, still pushing her into the wall, hands in constant motion as if he can't get enough of her.

So, now she knows he fights and he fucks the same, and it turns her on all the more.

Orgasm tears through both of them faster than she'd expected, whiting out her vision and leaving her knees wobbly.

~o~

They never do make it to the bed.

~o~

They get roaring drunk after Operation Pitfall. The party is part celebration and part wake, because no one can forget the price they had to pay to close the Breach.

Eventually, Raleigh makes it back to her bunk, though she's not entirely sure how. She lays there, still buzzing on adrenaline and alcohol, still feeling 80 feet tall and bulletproof, and wishing like hell that Chuck was still around for some more of that _thank fuck we're still alive_ sex.

Which is a bolt of unwelcome insight that she can't do anything about.

"Well, fuck."

~o~

Twelve hours post-Pitfall, the alarm shatters the quiet of the 'dome. 

Bleary and maybe just a little (okay, a lot) hung over, Raleigh stumbles into LOCCENT, Mako and Herc hot on her heels. They find Newt and Herman already there, peering over Tendo's shoulder, all three of them squinting at the bright displays as if they're somehow to blame for their hangovers.

"What the fuck, Tendo?" Herc says, leaning over them all, trying to make sense of the information on the displays. "I thought you said we'd closed the Breach?"

"We did close the Breach," Newt says.

Herm glances over his shoulder, giving a curt nod. "No Kaiju have been detected, Marshal."

"It's a pod," Tendo says, pointing at the readout. "Not getting any sensor data, which might mean it was damaged after ejection."

No one says what they're all thinking: Chuck or Pentacost? Who survived? Who died?

Herc pulls back, straightening to full height. Raleigh can see the pain and uncertainty in every line of his face, but he lets none of that through when he speaks. "Scramble the PAVE Hawks. We've got a pilot to rescue."

~o~

Chuck Hansen is one lucky son of a bitch.

That's the only thought running through Raleigh's mind as she watches him through the one-way glass. He's still unconscious; has been for the last two days, but the docs say that's to be expected given what he went through.

He's got a broken collar bone, a hairline fracture in his humerus and a compound tib-fib fracture in his leg, all on his left side. He's also got cuts and bruises, likely from the fast ejection of the escape pod. Plus, a concussion. 

Miraculously, the docs say there's no sign of radiation poisoning in any of them, Chuck included, so that's something.

Still, Raleigh can't help but think that Chuck's used up his allotment of good karma for the rest of his natural life. Knowing Chuck as she does, she's not sure that'll slow him down.

~o~

Life settles into a normal rhythm—or as normal as it gets living inside an empty tin can—in the days and weeks after the battle. No one leaves the 'dome; whether it's because they don't trust that the Breach is really closed or they're expecting some other oversized tragedy to befall the world, Raleigh doesn't know.

Research goes on, Newt and Herman up to their eyeballs in Kaiju parts, much to Herm's everlasting dismay. Caitlyn Lightcap has joined them, intrigued despite her horror at the stories they tell of drifting with Kaiju. Apart from the utter recklessness of what they'd done, it's opened up new lines of research, making it more difficult than ever to get any of them out of the labs.

~o~

Chuck wakes up just as foul-mouthed and cantankerous as ever, much to everyone's relief.

~o~

Raleigh and Mako still spar in the Kwoon, even though there are no Jaegers to train for anymore. Raleigh suspects it's Mako's way of mourning for Stacker, but she doesn't ask. It's not like she can judge coping methods, anyway.

The downtime hasn't seemed to help Raleigh's insomnia. She still can't sleep more than a few hours a night, even with Mako curled up in bed with her to help ward off the worst of the nightmares.

Thankfully, there are new Technicolor horrors to take the place of Yancy being yanked from Gypsy's conn pod. Although, dreaming of the Anteverse isn't really an improvement.

~o~

Six weeks post-Pitfall, and Chuck's casts have come off in record time. Raleigh thinks the doctors eject him from Medical simply because they're tired of dealing with his shit.

Not that she'll say that to Chuck's face. She's not suicidal.

Instead, she makes it a habit to show up in the gym when Chuck's doing his physical therapy. She works out alongside him, silently pushing him when he seems to fold in on himself.

"Come on, you arrogant glory-hound," she says at least once a day. "You aren't gonna let a _girl_ beat you, are you?"

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not a washed-up has-been," is his usual reply.

He always steps up his effort afterwards, so Raleigh calls it a win.

~o~

The PPDC and the Jaeger Program shift gears, with Marshal Hercules Hansen at the helm, executing the well-thought-out plan that Marshal Pentacost left for him. Left unsaid is the understanding that Stacker knew he wouldn't be there to usher them into a new era, whether it was the cancer or the Kaiju that finally did him in.

So, the PPDC gets new funding to refurbish a few more Jaegers and build some new ones—funding provided by the very same Pacific Rim nations that bore the brunt of the Kaiju attacks—over the strenuous objections of the United Nations. Considering the fact that it was the UN that supported building a wall that had absolutely zero chance at keeping out monsters the size of mountains, no one is particularly moved by their histrionics.

Deep Sea Exploration, Salvage and Search and Rescue become the new day-to-day mandates of the program, but no one is letting down their guard. Another Breach could open up at any moment, and those who lived through the last Kaiju war have no interest in being caught unprepared.

Vigilance becomes the new watchword of the PPDC.

~o~

Six months post-Pitfall, they greet the first candidates at the new Jaeger Academy. They're all young and eager, and Raleigh can't believe she was ever either of those things.

"Some of us were younger than others, mate," Chuck says as he stands beside her, arms crossed, watching the new cadets practice katas in the Kwoon.

That may be true, but Raleigh's seen Chuck standing in the bay where Striker Eureka once held court, staring up at the after-image of the only home he's ever really known. In those moments, she's seen him looking sad and lost, like he's not sure who he is now that it's all over. It makes him look older than his twenty-one years, and it makes her wonder what people see when she looks at Gypsy's ghost the same way.

~o~

Mako is fully immersed in the designs for the new Jaegers, so it's down to Raleigh and Chuck to demonstrate the type of sparring that will eventually help determine drift compatibility. There are ten cadets arrayed around the mats, and as the fight goes on and word spreads, J-Techs and Medical personnel and anyone not otherwise occupied with the running of the Shatterdome make their way to the Kwoon.

Raleigh barely notices, so consumed is she with the fight. She'd never even considered that she might be drift compatible with Chuck. The kid is abrasive and angry, though perhaps less so now that the Apocalypse has been cancelled. And yet, they meet each other blow for blow, dancing around the mats in a ballet of wide arcs and subtle jabs.

Fifteen minutes pass—fifteen minutes in which neither of them scores a point—before Herc finally puts a stop to the fight. They both simply stop and stare at each other, panting and leaning on their bō staffs while the crowd holds its collective breath.

"Fuck," Chuck mutters.

~o~

"I'm not getting into a Jaeger—even if it _is_ just a simulator—with that washed-up has-been."

Raleigh stops dead in her tracks, caught by Chuck's words, whispered just loudly enough to carry along the metal walls of the Shatterdome. She winces at the pain those words cause. You'd think three more kills and closing the Breach would have earned the retirement of the has-been label, but apparently not for Chuck.

Raleigh sighs. She should be beyond caring what he thinks, but she just can't seem to get past Chuck Hansen. She's not sure what that says about her, but it can't be anything good.

Shaking off those thoughts, she turns to take the long way around back to her quarters when she hears another voice, calmer, equally as familiar.

"You're going to need a co-pilot eventually, Chuck."

"In case you haven't noticed, Old Man, I already have a co-pilot."

There's a pause, and then words that seem to slice through the very air. "We both know I'm never getting back in a Jaeger. You and I were good together. You and Raleigh could be _great_."

Before she can even think about moving, Herc is walking around the corner. He doesn't seem surprised to find Raleigh there, just nods at her as he walks by.

When she turns the corner, she finds Chuck still standing where his father left him, a contemplative look on his face.

~o~

Mako finds her sitting on one of the platforms overlooking Gypsy's old bay. She doesn't say anything, simply sits down beside her and rests her chin on the railing.

"It's just," Raleigh begins, as though they'd been having this conversation already and were just picking it up again. "I never expected to drift with anyone again, after Yancy. It's too intimate, and losing Yancy was still too raw."

She takes a deep breath, hoping Mako understands that it was never about her. She came back because you don't turn down Stacker Fucking Pentacost when he asks you to help save the world. But given everything that had happened with Knifehead and Yancy, she hadn't been sure she'd ever be able to drift with _anyone_ again.

Now, it looks like she'll have yet another chance. She's not sure how she's supposed to feel about that.

"And yet, you survived," Mako says quietly. "But so did Chuck. Perhaps, you can both heal together. Find new purpose in this new world."

Raleigh can't argue with that, so she doesn't even try.

~o~

The simulated Drop is scheduled for first thing in the morning, and Raleigh swears she doesn't sleep a wink all night, just thinking about what drifting with Chuck will be like. 

Drifting with Yancy had always been as easy as breathing, and with Mako it had been like slipping on a pair of old, comfortable shoes. She can't imagine what it'll be like with Chuck, who's brash and loud and cocky as hell.

She hates the blush that thought brings, but what she hates even more is that Chuck will be able to see what he still does to her, even if he's not looking at her.

But, just like she'd never dream of disappointing Stacker Pentacost, she won't blow off the sim with Chuck. She respects Herc too much to even think about it, even if she'd rather not know what Chuck really thinks about her.

~o~

The Drop goes just as expected. Raleigh's done this enough times that she knows better than to chase the RABIT, despite what happened with Mako in their first drift.

She sees the memories fly by, most of them too quickly to get any real impressions. Some, though... some of them linger.

_Yancy, Raleigh and Jazmine having a snowball fight in their front yard._

_Chuck staring up at Lucky Seven, telling his father he's going to pilot a Jaeger one day, too._

_Raleigh graduating from the Academy and being assigned to Gypsy Danger with her brother._

_The adrenaline rush of Striker Eureka taking out Mutavore in record time._

_The panic on Yancy's face when he's yanked from Gypsy's conn pod mid-drift._

_Raleigh pressed up against the wall of her quarters, Chuck kissing and nipping her exposed skin as he presses into her._

~o~

"Drift is holding steady at—whoa," Tendo says over the comms. "You guys are holding at 98% alignment. 98.5. Inching up towards 99%. That's amazing!"

Chuck turns to Raleigh, the grin on his face lighting up her brain with his glee. She can't help but return the smile, her own joy at the successful drift shoving aside any reservations she might have had going in.

"Roger that," Chuck says. 

Raleigh marvels at the ordered space that is Chuck's mind as they run through systems checks. For all that he gives the impression that he's a young, arrogant kid full of piss and vinegar, inside he's the consummate professional.

"This is the job," he says into the quiet. Raleigh braces for the reproach, the hostility, the anger, but it never comes. Instead, she's treated to Chuck, unfiltered through all that noise. "I learned pretty quickly drifting with my old man that if I didn't check the ego at the door, we'd fall out of sync. Last place I want to have that happen is facing down a Kaiju bent on killing me and everyone on land behind me."

"Fair enough," Raleigh says. It's not like she wasn't the hothead when she was younger. She just hid it better. It's hard not to be cocky when your office is an 80 foot tall robot that you can control with a simple thought.

~o~

They run through a simulated dive, eerily similar to the run on the Breach. It gives Raleigh the creeps, but Chuck keeps up the idle patter, distracting her from the very real memories threatening to overwhelm her.

They talk about what it was like to grow up in a Shatterdome, how much of Alaska is real and how much is just 'urban' legend, and whether or not Team USA has a shot at the World Cup next year (Chuck says no, Raleigh's willing to believe they'll keep it together after they won the last one).

An hour flies by without either of them noticing. When Tendo calls a halt to the drift, Raleigh's surprised to find she doesn't really want it to end. That thought embarasses her for a split second, until she senses Chuck's own reluctance in the drift. 

She smiles her thanks at him even as they disconnect from the drift and become two separate beings again.

~o~

Despite their unprecedented level of sync in the drift, Chuck and Raleigh steadfastly avoid each other in the days and weeks after the simulated drop. When they're not training or running simulated drops, they're almost never in the same room if they can help it. 

Raleigh's still an insomniac, so she spends her time jogging the corridors and eating at odd times. She has no idea what Chuck does, but their ghost drift is pretty strong, so she can guess: it's not much different to her own routine, he just does it during normal waking hours.

But when they're in the drift, it's like they're one person, not two separate pilots, working at a level of sync that honestly creeps Tendo out (which makes it almost fun).

Raleigh wishes they could transfer that outside the drift, but she knows this is hard for both of them. Neither of them was ready for a new co-pilot, but that doesn't change the fact that they're stuck with each other now.

It's not as bad as Raleigh expected, and for that she's honestly grateful.

~o~

Eight months post-Pitfall, the first of the refurbished Jaegers is ready for its test run.

Nova Hyperion—a Mark IV Jaeger out of South Korea—is a wonder to behold, standing tall and proud in her bay in Scramble Alley. There are two other Jaegers in various stages of repair, but Nova is the first one to be completed, and it's the one Raleigh and Chuck will be piloting.

Raleigh stands in front of her, hands on her hips as she stares up at her new home. Emotions are crashing through her, but not the ones she'd expected. Mostly, she's excited to be getting back into a Jaeger, when she'd expected to hate the very idea of piloting any Jaeger that isn't Gypsy. It's a pleasant surprise, to say the least.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Raleigh doesn't turn around, but she doesn't need to. Chuck steps up beside her, craning his neck to look at Nova, the same expression on his face that Raleigh's been wearing since they hauled her into Scramble Alley: a mix of elation and trepidation.

"Yes, she is," Raleigh says. She can't stop the smile that breaks over her face. "And she's all ours."

"Damn straight," Chuck says, his own grin blooming on his face.

"You ready for tomorrow?"

The test run is scheduled for the morning, and Raleigh hasn't been this nervous since her first drop with Yancy all those years ago. But just like then, Raleigh has a co-pilot who knows exactly what she's feeling. Chuck rests his hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently.

"I was born ready, Rals," he says.

Raleigh feels warmth spread through her at the use of her old nickname. She turns a soft smile on Chuck. "Yeah, me too."

~o~

The drop is the best time Raleigh's had in a Jaeger. _Ever_.

~o~

They make a run on the Breach. No one's gotten a visual on it since they closed it eight months ago, despite the fact that all their sensors are still in place. It seems like a huge oversight, but it's not like they had any Jaegers to make the run, and submersibles just aren't capable of diving that deep.

Chuck whistles as they get their first really good look at it. "It's a wasteland."

"We did set off two nukes, if you'll remember," Raleigh says, smirking over at her co-pilot.

"Like I'm gonna forget that, mate," Chuck says, smirking right back.

They spend an hour wandering around, collecting samples and checking for signs of life—from Earth and the Anteverse. There's still some residual radiation lingering in the water, but for the most part, it's dissipated. And nothing's emanating from the Breach, which makes everyone heave a collective sigh of relief.

~o~

They barely make it back to Raleigh's quarters before they fall into each other, kissing and caressing every hot spot they can remember, clothes flying in all directions in a frantic race to reach skin.

Raleigh has no idea what's changed between yesterday and today, but she's not going to argue, not when Chuck's doing things with his mouth that make her want to scream.

Chuck just chuckles and presses her into the bunk, heedless of the rumpled sheets and discarded sleep clothes that Raleigh had left behind in her hurry to get moving that morning. The ghost drift is humming between them, washing a giddy contentedness back and forth. Despite hours of simulations and time spent sparring in the Kwoon, it seems all she had to do to prove herself was co-pilot a Jaeger under real-world conditions.

And then, as if on cue, he utters those familiar words, now laced with a fond amusement that goes right to Raleigh's heart.

"Washed-up has-been," he grumbles into her neck as he teases at the skin with his teeth.

Raleigh gasps when he hits a particularly sensitive spot. "Arrogant glory-hound."

Chuck's only answer is a grin pressed into the long line of her neck.

~o~

This time, they don't leave the bed for eighteen hours.

~o~

One year—to the day—post-Pitfall, an alarm breaks the quiet of the Shatterdome.

This one is different, though. They'd changed the tone since the last time it went off unexpectedly, so everyone in the 'dome could tell the difference between a standard search and rescue mission and the Apocalypse resuming. It provokes less urgency, though it still spurs everyone on duty into action.

And then Tendo's voice carries through the PA system. "Ranger Becket, Ranger Hansen, report to the Drive Suit Room."

Raleigh grumbles about being woken at stupid o'clock in the morning—somehow, sleeping with Chuck has put the brakes on her insomnia—burying her head under her pillow. She still can't believe she used to jump out of bed at the first sound of the alarm.

"Come on, love," Chuck says, swatting her backside as he rolls out of bed. "Time, tide and stupid people wait for no one."

"Gee, thanks," Raleigh says, pushing the pillow aside and sitting up. "I love you, too."

"Yeah, you do," Chuck says, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her sleepy lips. When he pulls back, he's smiling. "Good thing I love you back, beautiful."

Raleigh snorts. Her hair's a mess from sleep, and she's probably got pillow tracks on her cheek, but Chuck sees none of that. It warms her from the inside out. One of these days, she's going to have to find a way to thank Herc and Mako for pushing them into this.

For now, though, she simply rolls out of bed and pulls him to her, kissing him back with as much fervor—and tongue—as she can muster at this ridiculous hour.

When she pulls back, she's greeted with the stunned, goofy grin she's come to love on his face. Satisfied with a job well done, she heads for the bathroom.

"Oi, you can't just leave it there!" he practically shouts at her.

Raleigh pokes her head out of the bathroom and grins. "Just put a pin in it, Chuck. We'll get back to it later. I'm not nearly done with you yet."

She winks at him, then goes back to getting ready. Chuck's quiet but enthusiastic _Yes, ma'am_ drifts through to her, drawing a chuckle out of her.

She catches her reflection in the mirror and smiles. Turns out surviving the end of the world isn't that hard after all.

~Finis


End file.
